San Antonio Areas
Northwest Side,
San Antonio
From the Medical Center and Loop 410 out past Loop 1604 to Helotes, Leon Springs and Scenic Loop Road: 1950s homes a short drive from the hospitals, 1980s subdivisions off Bandera Road, and new builds within 15 miles of Camp Bullis.
Questions about the Northwest Side? Call or text me at (919) 800-9870
Northwest San Antonio runs from Loop 410 and the South Texas Medical Center out past Loop 1604, between I-10 and Bandera Road, to Helotes, Leon Springs and Scenic Loop Road. Most of it is in Northside ISD, the area's main public school district. Combined 2026 tax rates run about $1.84 to $2.55 per $100, and builder base prices start around $350,000. Camp Bullis is the closest installation for most communities, about 3.5 to 15 miles away, while Leon Valley and Great Northwest are about 9 miles from Lackland.
Tiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP · Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector · Bexar Appraisal District · OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM)- Northside ISD serves most of the Northwest Side. The exceptions sit at the edges: most of Balcones Heights and part of Oak Hills are in San Antonio ISD, a few Balcones Heights streets are in North East ISD, and the northern end of Scenic Oaks, including Fox Falls, is in Boerne ISD along with Caliza Reserve.
- If a $400,000 house is your main home, 2026 taxes come to about $5,670 in Davis Ranch or Sagebrooke, about $7,070 inside San Antonio in Northside ISD (The Dominion, Great Northwest, Braun Station) and about $7,710 in Balcones Heights, after the standard homestead exemptions.
- Inside Loop 1604, nearly everything is a resale built between the 1940s and the 1990s. The main exception is Senna in Leon Valley, where Century Communities' base prices start at about $350,000.
- Past Loop 1604, builders are still selling in Davis Ranch (from about $352,000), Sagebrooke, Bricewood, Fox Falls, and Caliza Reserve, where Toll Brothers starts at about $770,000 on half-acre homesites.
- From The Dominion, Camp Bullis's main gate is about 3.5 driving miles away; from Crownridge it's about 4, and from Leon Springs about 5. Oak Hills and Balcones Heights are 2 to 3 miles from University Hospital in the Medical Center.
Where is the Northwest Side
of San Antonio?
Picture a wedge with its point at Loop 410 and the Medical Center. One side is I-10, the other is Bandera Road (SH 16), and it widens as it runs northwest past Loop 1604 to Helotes, Grey Forest, Leon Springs and the edge of Camp Bullis. Between Loop 410 and Loop 1604 it also takes in the neighborhoods between Bandera Road and Culebra Road, like Great Northwest and Braun Station. I-10 is the eastern line: Hunters Creek, Castle Hills Forest, Inwood and the other subdivisions across the freeway are on my North Central page.
I-10 is the spine. Heading out from Loop 410 it passes the exits for the Medical Center, UTSA and La Cantera, then The Dominion, before it reaches Leon Springs. Bandera Road carries you through Leon Valley and Helotes, Babcock Road links the hospitals to UTSA and keeps going north toward Scenic Loop Road, and Boerne Stage Road leaves I-10 at Leon Springs for the hills. You'll see 78229 and 78240 around the Medical Center, 78238 and 78250 near Leon Valley and Great Northwest, 78256 and 78257 along I-10 by La Cantera and The Dominion, 78255 around Leon Springs and Scenic Loop, and 78023 in Helotes. ZIP 78254 is split with the far West Side.
That shared ZIP is where the two areas meet, and Shaenfield Road is the line between them. Davis Ranch and Sagebrooke, north of it near Government Canyon, are covered here. Stillwater Ranch, Kallison Ranch and everything farther down Culebra and Potranco roads belong to the far West Side, which sits nearer Lackland and farther from Camp Bullis and the hospitals.
More about where the Northwest Side starts and stops
The City's planning maps cut this side of town into several pieces. Its "Northwest" area is only the outer end, with The Dominion and Leon Springs. Braun Station, Great Northwest and Ingram Park Mall fall in "West Northwest," the hospitals and Oak Hills in the "Medical Center" area, and UTSA and La Cantera in the "UTSA" area. This page uses "Northwest Side" for all of it.
Mailing addresses don't follow city lines out here. A Helotes address can be inside the City of Helotes or outside any city, and a Boerne address on Boerne Stage Road can still be in Bexar County, miles from the City of Boerne. Scenic Oaks and Cross Mountain are areas the Census Bureau draws for counting people, not cities, so they have no city government or city tax. The Census's Scenic Oaks also takes in Two Creeks and River Rock Ranch, which this page lists under Leon Springs. To settle any address, read the taxing units the Bexar Appraisal District lists for the property.
Taking a job at the Medical Center or UTSA from out of state?
The San Antonio Relocation Guide covers how the metro is laid out, cost of living, how school districts work here, and buying a home before you've moved.
Get the Relocation GuideComing on orders to Camp Bullis or Lackland? The PCS guide adds the installations and their gates, VA loan basics and a countdown for the move.
Get the PCS GuideIs the Northwest Side a good fit for you?
It's a strong match if you want:
- A short drive to the South Texas Medical Center, UTSA or La Cantera
- Camp Bullis as your duty station, with homes from about 3.5 to 15 miles from its main gate
- An established house on a full-size yard inside Loop 1604, built anywhere from the 1950s to the 1990s
- Half-acre to acre-plus lots in the hills around Scenic Loop Road, Grey Forest and Cross Mountain
- A new build from about $350,000 in Leon Valley or Davis Ranch, or on a half-acre homesite near Boerne Stage Road from about $770,000
Which communities are on San Antonio's Northwest Side,
and who is building there?
The table starts at the Medical Center and works outward. Inside Loop 1604 the market is almost all resale. The new construction is past 1604, mostly on the west side toward Government Canyon and the north end near Boerne Stage Road.
"Unincorporated" in the table means outside any city: there's no city tax, and the county and an emergency services district handle the roads, fire protection and EMS. A price in the last column is a builder's base price: its lowest-priced plan on a standard homesite, before upgrades or lot premiums. It marks where new homes in that community start, not what a typical house there sells for. When a builder names a series by width, like a 50-foot series, that's the width of the homesite.
| Community | City or county | School district | Building now? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balcones Heights | City of Balcones Heights | Mostly San Antonio ISD | No, pre-owned only |
| Medical Center and Oak Hills | Inside San Antonio | Northside ISD or San Antonio ISD | No, pre-owned only |
| Leon Valley | City of Leon Valley | Northside ISD | Yes, from about $350,000 |
| Great Northwest | Inside San Antonio | Northside ISD | No, pre-owned only |
| Braun Station | Inside San Antonio | Northside ISD | No, pre-owned only |
| Crownridge (UTSA and La Cantera) | Inside San Antonio | Northside ISD | Yes, final homes from the $590,000s |
| The Dominion | Inside San Antonio | Northside ISD | Mostly resale; custom builds on open lots |
| Helotes | City of Helotes | Northside ISD | Yes, from about $370,000 |
| Davis Ranch | Unincorporated Bexar | Northside ISD | Yes, from about $352,000 |
| Sagebrooke | Unincorporated Bexar | Northside ISD | Yes, from about $390,000 |
| Grey Forest | City of Grey Forest | Northside ISD | No builder community |
| Scenic Loop Road homesites | Unincorporated Bexar | Northside ISD | Custom builds on open lots |
| Leon Springs and Two Creeks | Partly San Antonio, partly unincorporated | Northside ISD | Mostly resale |
| Cross Mountain | Unincorporated Bexar | Northside ISD | Mostly resale |
| Scenic Oaks and Caliza Reserve | Unincorporated Bexar | Boerne ISD or Northside ISD | Yes, from about $515,000 |
Balcones Heights
A city of about 2,700 people wrapped around Fredericksburg Road at Loop 410 and home to Wonderland of the Americas. It has only about 240 houses, most built in the 1940s and 1950s, typically on a third of an acre. Most streets are in San Antonio ISD, and a handful are in North East ISD.
Medical Center and Oak Hills
The hospitals fill the blocks around Medical Drive, Floyd Curl Drive and Merton Minter Boulevard: University Hospital, Methodist Hospital and the VA's Audie L. Murphy hospital among them. Oak Hills, the established neighborhood around Oak Hills Country Club on Fredericksburg Road, went up mostly in the late 1950s and 1960s, and lots of a third of an acre or more are common. The school district line runs right through it, so neighbors on nearby streets can be in Northside ISD and San Antonio ISD.
Leon Valley
The small city on Bandera Road between the two loops has a page of its own. Its one new-build option is Senna, where Century Communities is building on lots of about 3,000 square feet, from about $350,000.
Great Northwest
The biggest neighborhood on this page: about 4,900 houses between Bandera Road and Culebra Road inside Loop 1604, in ZIP 78250. Nearly all of them went up between the late 1970s and the mid-1990s, on lots of roughly 5,400 to 9,700 square feet.
Braun Station
Just north of Great Northwest, between Guilbeau Road and Tezel Road in ZIP 78254. About 870 houses, built from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s, sit on noticeably bigger lots than Great Northwest's, mostly 7,800 to 13,900 square feet.
Crownridge
North of Loop 1604 off Camp Bullis Road and Luskey Boulevard, near La Cantera and UTSA, in ZIP 78256. Its roughly 600 houses date from the mid-1980s into the 2010s, on lots from about 7,000 square feet up to three-quarters of an acre, and the Crownridge Canyon Natural Area sits in the middle of it. Scott Felder Homes is selling the last homes in Crown Ridge Manor, a gated section of 35 homes on 45-foot homesites, from the $590,000s.
The Dominion
The guard-gated community on I-10 just past Loop 1604 has a page of its own. Most sales are resales, but custom builders are still working its open lots: more than 120 Dominion homes have gone up since 2020.
Helotes
Helotes, on Bandera Road just past Loop 1604, has its own page, too. Beazer Homes is still building in Bricewood, mostly inside the city limits, from about $370,000.
Davis Ranch
Past Loop 1604 off Shaenfield Road and Galm Road, backing up to Government Canyon State Natural Area, in unincorporated Bexar County (mostly ZIP 78254, with a few Helotes addresses). Homes went up from about 2018 on, mostly on lots of 5,000 to 9,800 square feet, with smaller lots for the garden homes. There are two pools with cabanas, a splash pad and playgrounds, and Tomlinson Elementary and Folks Middle School are inside the community. Five builders are selling: David Weekley Homes from the $350,000s on 50-foot homesites (its last few) and the $540,000s on 60-foot homesites, Coventry Homes from about $375,000, Pulte Homes from about $379,000, Highland Homes from the $390,000s on 45-foot homesites to the $630,000s on 60-foot ones, and Sitterle Homes with zero-lot-line garden homes from the mid $400,000s.
Sagebrooke
Meritage Homes' community east of Davis Ranch, next to Bricewood, built from 2023 on lots of about 6,000 square feet. More than 450 homes are planned around an amenity center with a pool. Meritage's two series start at about $390,000 and $415,000.
Grey Forest
A city of about 510 people on Scenic Loop Road, incorporated in 1962. Its older lots are still recorded under the name Scenic Loop Playground, a hint at how it started. The city's roughly 235 houses range in age from the 1920s to the last few years, and about a third of them sit on an acre or more.
Scenic Loop Road homesites
North of Grey Forest, along Scenic Loop Road and Boerne Stage Road, several communities sell lots rather than finished houses: The Canyons at Scenic Loop (homes from about 2013 on), Blackbuck Ranch (2018 on), Cantera Hills and Pecan Springs (2021 on). Lots run from about half an acre to more than an acre, and hundreds of homesites across the four are still empty. Here you buy the lot and build with a custom builder, so the timeline and budget work differently from a production build.
Leon Springs and Two Creeks
Leon Springs grew up around an 1846 stagecoach stop on what's now I-10 and later hosted a World War I officers' training camp. The name now covers the I-10 corridor around Boerne Stage Road, right next to Camp Bullis. Stage Run, built 2003 to 2008, is inside San Antonio. Two Creeks (about 800 homes from 2006 on) and River Rock Ranch (2008 to 2022) are unincorporated, mostly on lots of about 6,000 to 11,000 square feet.
Cross Mountain
Hill Country land between Leon Springs and Scenic Loop Road, with addresses in 78255 and 78256. Lots are big: about two in five homes sit on an acre or more, in subdivisions like Walnut Pass at Boerne Stage, Stonewall Ranch and Bloomfield Hills. Most homes here were built in the 2000s and 2010s, with a few older acreage houses mixed in.
Scenic Oaks and Caliza Reserve
The north end of the area, between Boerne Stage Road and I-10 up toward Fair Oaks Ranch, mostly with Boerne mailing addresses. Scenic Oaks' northern subdivisions, including Balcones Creek, Limestone Ranch and Fox Falls, are in Boerne ISD, and so is Caliza Reserve, next door on Boerne Stage Road. Meritage Homes is building in Fox Falls, on lots of about 6,000 square feet, from about $515,000. Caliza Reserve has half-acre homesites about 100 feet wide: Toll Brothers is selling from about $770,000, and Chesmar Homes' next phase, coming soon, starts at about $849,000. Caliza Reserve also sits in the Boerne Stage Road Special Improvement District, a taxing district explained in the tax section below.
Expect an HOA in any subdivision built since the 1980s, and in most of the custom-lot communities. Get the dues and the deed restrictions in hand early, especially on acreage, where rules on fences, outbuildings and livestock vary from one community to the next.
Buying new? Davis Ranch, Sagebrooke, Bricewood, Senna, Fox Falls and Caliza Reserve all still have builders selling. A resale in one of them in the next few years would go up against the builders' new homes and incentives, so count on owning it longer, or keep it and rent it out after you move.
Call me before you visit any builder's model home. I come along to the model homes and handle the bargaining with the builder over price, upgrades, incentives and closing costs. The builder pays my commission. There's more on how a new build works with me on my new construction page.
Weighing a production build against a custom lot?
The New Construction Guide covers builder contracts and incentives, inspecting a home nobody has lived in yet, and the questions to ask before signing a builder's contract.
Get the New Construction GuideSources
How far is the Northwest Side from Camp Bullis,
the Medical Center and downtown?
Every community here is within about 3.5 to 15 driving miles of the Camp Bullis gate. The farther south you go, the more Lackland comes into play: from Leon Valley and Great Northwest it's about 9 miles, closer than Camp Bullis. The table lists each community's rounded miles to the nearest 24/7 gate of each installation, closest to Camp Bullis first.
| Community | Camp Bullis (main gate) | Lackland (nearest gate) | Fort Sam Houston (nearest gate) | Randolph (Lindsey Gate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dominion | 3.5 mi | 23 mi | 21 mi | 27 mi |
| Crownridge | 4 mi | 21 mi | 21 mi | 27 mi |
| Leon Springs | 5 mi | 24 mi | 22 mi | 28 mi |
| Two Creeks | 6.5 mi | 26 mi | 24 mi | 30 mi |
| Cross Mountain | 7.5 mi | 27 mi | 25 mi | 31 mi |
| Grey Forest | 9.5 mi | 20 mi | 25 mi | 32 mi |
| Helotes | 10 mi | 17 mi | 21 mi | 28 mi |
| The Canyons at Scenic Loop | 10 mi | 27 mi | 27 mi | 33 mi |
| Caliza Reserve | 10 mi | 30 mi | 27 mi | 33 mi |
| Oak Hills | 11 mi | 11 mi | 10 mi | 21 mi |
| Braun Station | 11 mi | 12 mi | 16 mi | 28 mi |
| Leon Valley | 12 mi | 9 mi | 12 mi | 24 mi |
| Fox Falls | 12 mi | 31 mi | 29 mi | 35 mi |
| Balcones Heights | 12 mi | 11 mi | 9.5 mi | 20 mi |
| Sagebrooke | 13 mi | 14 mi | 20 mi | 32 mi |
| Great Northwest | 14 mi | 9 mi | 16 mi | 28 mi |
| Davis Ranch | 15 mi | 16 mi | 26 mi | 34 mi |
Almost every trip to Camp Bullis ends the same way, on I-10 to the gate at the end of Camp Bullis Road; from Helotes, Davis Ranch, Sagebrooke, Great Northwest and Braun Station you pick up I-10 by way of Loop 1604, and from Grey Forest by Scenic Loop, Babcock and Heuermann roads. Lackland trips from Leon Valley, Great Northwest and Braun Station run down Bandera Road or Culebra Road to Loop 410, then Military Drive to the Luke East Gate, while Davis Ranch and Sagebrooke head south to Culebra Road, then SH 151 and Loop 410 to the Valley Hi Gate. From Oak Hills and Balcones Heights, the closest Fort Sam gate is Harry Wurzbach East. For gate hours and base housing, see my Camp Bullis page and Lackland page.
How far is it to University Hospital, downtown and the airport?
Oak Hills and Balcones Heights are 2 to 3 miles from University Hospital, and Leon Valley about 3.5. From the Scenic Oaks end, the hospital is 18 to 19 miles away. Balcones Heights and Oak Hills are also the closest to the airport, at about 6.5 to 7 miles.
| Community | Medical Center (University Hospital) | Downtown (City Hall) | Airport (SAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Hills | 2 mi | 8 mi | 7 mi |
| Balcones Heights | 3 mi | 7.5 mi | 6.5 mi |
| Leon Valley | 3.5 mi | 9.5 mi | 10 mi |
| Braun Station | 6.5 mi | 13 mi | 14 mi |
| Great Northwest | 7 mi | 13 mi | 14 mi |
| Helotes | 9 mi | 19 mi | 17 mi |
| Crownridge | 11 mi | 19 mi | 17 mi |
| The Dominion | 11 mi | 19 mi | 17 mi |
| Sagebrooke | 11 mi | 17 mi | 18 mi |
| Leon Springs | 13 mi | 20 mi | 18 mi |
| Grey Forest | 13 mi | 23 mi | 21 mi |
| Davis Ranch | 13 mi | 23 mi | 20 mi |
| Two Creeks | 14 mi | 22 mi | 20 mi |
| Cross Mountain | 15 mi | 23 mi | 21 mi |
| The Canyons at Scenic Loop | 18 mi | 25 mi | 23 mi |
| Caliza Reserve | 18 mi | 26 mi | 24 mi |
| Fox Falls | 19 mi | 27 mi | 25 mi |
I put live Northwest Side listings right below this section, from 1950s houses near the hospitals to new builds that are finished and ready, so you can see what homes are asking today.
(SEP 27, 2026 - OCT 27, 2026)
What are property taxes
on the Northwest Side?
For 2026, about $1.84 to $2.55 per $100 of taxable value, or roughly $1,840 to $2,550 a year for every $100,000 the home is taxed on, before exemptions. Three things decide where a house falls: its city (San Antonio, one of the four small cities, or none at all), which of four school districts it's in, and, in Caliza Reserve, a special taxing district.
- Homestead exemption: once the home is your main residence and you file for it, each taxing unit takes a set amount or a percentage off the value it taxes. Every yearly figure in the table assumes it.
- ESD (emergency services district): outside city limits, this district funds fire protection and EMS, and its line on the bill sits where a city's would. On this side of the county, ESD 4 is $0.074872 per $100, and ESD 7 and ESD 8 are $0.100000 each. None of the three gives a homestead exemption.
- SID (special improvement district): a taxing district drawn around one development to pay for the public improvements built there. The Boerne Stage Road SID covers Caliza Reserve at $0.562880, the same figure as San Antonio's city rate. No homestead exemption applies to it, though, so on a $400,000 home it costs about $2,250 a year, while San Antonio's 20% exemption would bring the city's line down to about $1,800.
Here's the same $400,000 house, lived in as a homestead, in each tax setup on the Northwest Side:
| Where the home is | 2026 rate per $100 | Where you'll see it | Yearly tax, $400,000 homestead | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated, Boerne ISD, ESD 4 | $1.843556 | Fox Falls, Balcones Creek and the rest of Scenic Oaks' Boerne ISD side | About $5,490 | About $460 |
| City of Grey Forest, Northside ISD | $1.871356 | Grey Forest | About $5,560 | About $465 |
| Unincorporated, Northside ISD, ESD 4 | $1.871956 | Two Creeks, River Rock Ranch, Cross Mountain | About $5,570 | About $465 |
| Unincorporated, Northside ISD, ESD 7 or ESD 8 | $1.897084 | Davis Ranch and Sagebrooke (ESD 7); The Canyons at Scenic Loop, Blackbuck Ranch, Cantera Hills and Pecan Springs (ESD 8) | About $5,670 | About $470 |
| City of Helotes, Northside ISD | $2.107084 | Helotes, including most of Bricewood | About $6,510 | About $540 |
| City of Leon Valley, Northside ISD | $2.342124 | Leon Valley, including Senna | About $7,010 | About $585 |
| Inside San Antonio, Northside ISD | $2.359964 | The Dominion, Crownridge, Great Northwest, Braun Station, Stage Run, the Northside ISD part of Oak Hills | About $7,070 | About $590 |
| Unincorporated, Boerne ISD, ESD 4, Boerne Stage Road SID | $2.406436 | Caliza Reserve | About $7,740 | About $645 |
| Inside San Antonio, San Antonio ISD | $2.511964 | The San Antonio ISD part of Oak Hills | About $7,460 | About $620 |
| City of Balcones Heights, San Antonio ISD | $2.553084 | Most of Balcones Heights | About $7,710 | About $645 |
That's taxes alone. Homeowners insurance and any HOA dues sit on top of the mortgage and the taxes, so price an insurance policy before you settle on a monthly number.
The yearly figures take off the general homestead exemptions: $140,000 from the school district's value; 20% for Bexar County, University Health, San Antonio and Leon Valley; 15% for Balcones Heights; $5,000 for Grey Forest and Alamo Colleges; $3,000 plus 20% for Road and Flood; and 4% for the River Authority. Helotes, the ESDs and the SID don't exempt anything, which is why Caliza Reserve costs more than its rate suggests.
Turn the house into a rental when you move, and the homestead exemptions come off; the whole value is taxed from then on. The same $400,000 house in Davis Ranch would go from about $5,670 a year to about $7,590.
More about the taxing units on a Northwest Side bill
Five units appear on every Bexar County bill in 2026: Bexar County $0.285963, University Health $0.276235, Alamo Community College District $0.166650, San Antonio River Authority $0.019300, and Road and Flood $0.014036, which add up to $0.762184. The school district comes next: Northside ISD $1.034900, North East ISD $0.975400, San Antonio ISD $1.186900 or Boerne ISD $1.006500. Last is the city, or an ESD outside city limits: San Antonio $0.562880, Leon Valley $0.545040, Helotes $0.310000, Grey Forest $0.074272 or Balcones Heights $0.604000. The few Balcones Heights streets in North East ISD come to $2.341584.
To see the units on a particular home, look it up at bcad.org and read its taxing jurisdiction list. If a house is so new that the appraisal district hasn't added it yet, ask the builder which taxing districts the lot sits in before you sign.
The first bill on a new home often covers just the lot, or a house that was only partly built on January 1. The full value shows up the year after, so set your budget by the second year's bill.
More about homestead timing and veteran exemptions
File Form 50-114, the homestead application, with the Bexar Appraisal District after you move in and the house becomes your principal residence.
The start date depends on the house. Buy a resale partway through the year and the seller's exemption usually covers that year's bill, so yours starts the next January; the regular deadline is April 30. If the seller didn't have the exemption that year, as on a new build, you can claim it for the months you own the home that year, provided you file within a year of closing.
From the second year with the exemption, the appraised value the taxing units can use on a homestead can't climb more than 10% a year, apart from additions and improvements. At 65 or older, school taxes come down further: another $73,330 off in Northside ISD and North East ISD, and at least $60,000 in San Antonio ISD and Boerne ISD. With a disability, Northside ISD's extra exemption is also $73,330; elsewhere it's at least $60,000.
A VA disability rating also brings an added exemption on one property, and the amount rises with the rating: $5,000 with a 10% to 29% rating, $7,500 at 30% to 49%, $10,000 at 50% to 69%, and $12,000 at 70% to 100% (Form 50-135). A veteran who receives disability compensation at the 100% rate, with a 100% rating or as individually unemployable, pays nothing in property tax on the homestead, and the exemption passes to a surviving spouse who doesn't remarry.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector, 2026 Official Tax Rates and Exemptions · Bexar Appraisal District property records (Boerne ISD and Boerne Stage Road SID rates) · Texas Comptroller, exemptions · Texas Tax Code, Chapter 11 · Texas Tax Code §23.23 · Texas Comptroller, disabled veteran exemptions
Taxes, schools and city limits vary by address. Confirm them for any home before you make an offer.
Which school districts serve
the Northwest Side?
Northside ISD covers most of it, and three other districts take the edges. The lines don't stop at neighborhood names: they split Oak Hills, Balcones Heights and Scenic Oaks, so look up the district for the exact address.
- Northside ISD is the big one: 97,597 students and 133 schools spread over about 355 square miles, and it reaches into Medina and Bandera counties. Type an address into Boundaries and Buses to get the zoned campuses and the bus route.
- North East ISD (67 campuses, more than 51,000 students) takes in a few streets of Balcones Heights. Its Find Your Campus maps show the zones by address.
- San Antonio ISD (more than 42,000 students) serves most of Balcones Heights and part of Oak Hills. Its school locator is on saisd.net.
- Boerne ISD, with more than 11,200 students on 14 campuses, serves the northern end of Scenic Oaks and Caliza Reserve. Its address search is on boerneisd.net, and homes near the district's edge are confirmed by its Administrative Services office.
With the campus names in hand, you'll find each school's state report card at tea.texas.gov.
More about checking the district for an address
North East ISD's Bexar County ISD Boundary Map shows which district any Bexar County address is in, not just its own. The district also appears among the taxing units the Bexar Appraisal District lists for the property. Zones can be redrawn when a new campus opens, so in Davis Ranch or another community still under construction, check with the district about next year's zoning for the address too.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: Northside ISD · North East ISD · San Antonio ISD · Boerne ISD · Bexar Appraisal District
What is daily life like
on the Northwest Side?
Inside Loop 1604, most of life happens along a few big roads. Bandera Road, Fredericksburg Road, Babcock Road and I-10 carry the groceries, the doctors' offices and the takeout, and the hospitals and UTSA are a few exits away. It's built for the car, but almost nothing is far.
Past 1604 the roads narrow and the land opens up. Scenic Loop Road and Boerne Stage Road wind through the hills on two lanes, the lots get bigger, and a trip to the store means heading back toward I-10 or Bandera Road. You trade a longer run to errands for more room and more quiet.
Shopping and groceries
- Bandera and 1604 H-E-B plus!, 9238 N. Loop 1604 West
- Bandera and Guilbeau H-E-B, 7951 Guilbeau Road
- The Shops at La Cantera and The Rim, on either side of I-10 at Loop 1604
- Ingram Park Mall, 6301 NW Loop 410, and Huebner Oaks on I-10 at Huebner Road
Parks and trails
- O.P. Schnabel Park, 9606 Bandera Road: 202 acres with 8.22 miles of trail, ball fields and rentable pavilions
- Friedrich Wilderness Park, 21395 Milsa Drive off I-10: about 600 acres and 10 miles of hiking trails, open to walkers only, with no pets or bikes
- Crownridge Canyon Natural Area, 7222 Luskey Boulevard: a 1.3-mile trail through the canyon, with no pets or bikes allowed on it
Campus and entertainment
- UTSA's main campus, One UTSA Circle, off Loop 1604
- Six Flags Fiesta Texas, at I-10 and Loop 1604
More about utilities on the Northwest Side
Homes inside San Antonio buy electricity and natural gas from CPS Energy, which the city owns, and most get their water from SAWS. If you're military and relocating, ask CPS Energy whether it will waive the deposit.
Natural gas on much of this side of town can also come from Grey Forest Utilities, run by a board of the City of Grey Forest, which has supplied gas to northwest San Antonio since 1967. Its service area runs from US-90 near Loop 410 up to I-10 and Loop 1604 and north along I-10 toward Boerne. Outside city limits, water and electric providers depend on the subdivision, and on acreage some homes have their own well or septic system. Confirm every provider for the specific address before you close.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: H-E-B, Bandera and 1604 · H-E-B, Bandera and Guilbeau · City of San Antonio, O.P. Schnabel Park · Friedrich Wilderness Park · Crownridge Canyon · UTSA · CPS Energy · SAWS · Grey Forest Utilities
Before you tour the Northwest Side
This side of town runs from 1950s houses to new builds on half-acre lots, so a few decisions up front save a lot of wasted showings.
- The monthly payment, with taxes in it. Your approval is the most a lender will lend, not the payment you want to live with. Here the same $400,000 house can carry about $460 a month in taxes or about $645, depending on where it sits.
- Which school district you'd be in. If it matters to you, check the address itself; with four districts here, two houses a few streets apart can land in different ones.
- HOA rules that would end it for you. Rental restrictions, if renting it out later is part of the plan, a boat or RV in the driveway, fences, outbuildings, a short-term rental: tell me which ones would end it, and I'll find out before you go see the house.
- Your must-haves and deal-breakers. An older home with a big yard near the hospitals, or a new one farther out with a builder's warranty? One story, a pool, a three-car garage? Know which of them you'd actually walk away over.
- Your drive at the times you'd make it. If you know your gate, hospital or office, drive it from the neighborhood you like in the morning and again in the evening, on a weekday.
- Septic and wells on the bigger lots. Around Scenic Loop Road, Grey Forest and Cross Mountain, ask whether the house is on a septic system or a private well. If it's on septic, add a septic inspection to the general home inspection.
What working with me looks like
on the Northwest Side.
I'm Tiffany Reed, a REALTOR® with Real Broker, and I also hold the Military Relocation Professional (MRP) certification. Northwest Side houses range from postwar builds near Fredericksburg Road to ones finished this year, so what I check before a showing depends on the house.
- Before the showing. For a resale, I request the disclosure the seller filled out, plus any inspection reports from earlier sales, and I check how many years the roof, the HVAC system and the water heater have on them. On the 1950s to 1980s houses inside Loop 1604, those ages say a lot.
- Video tours when you can't be here. I'll walk each house with you on a video call, room by room, so distance doesn't keep you from writing an offer.
- New builds, before the first visit. Call me before you set foot in any model home. I come to the model visits, negotiate price, upgrades, incentives and closing costs with the builder, keep up with the build as it goes, and attend each walkthrough with the inspection report, covering all of it with you. Been to a builder already? Let me know, and I'll ask whether I can still be added.
- Rent comparisons for PCS buyers. If renting the house out after your next orders is part of the plan, I run rental comps for the houses you're most serious about and set the likely rent next to your mortgage payment.
- A lender who knows your loan. I'll put you in touch with lenders, including VA lenders.
- From offer to keys. Once you settle on a house, I write the offer, negotiate it, coordinate the inspections it needs, and meet you for the final walkthrough before closing.
Questions buyers ask about
the Northwest Side
What ZIP codes are in Northwest San Antonio?
The main ones are 78229 and 78240 around the Medical Center, 78238 and 78250 near Leon Valley and Great Northwest, 78249 near UTSA, 78256 and 78257 along I-10 by La Cantera and The Dominion, 78255 around Leon Springs, and 78023 in Helotes. ZIP 78254 covers Braun Station, Davis Ranch and Sagebrooke but also reaches the far West Side, and the north end of Scenic Oaks uses Boerne's 78006.
Is Northwest San Antonio the same as the far West Side?
No. The Northwest Side is the Medical Center, Leon Valley, UTSA, Helotes, Leon Springs and The Dominion, between I-10 and Bandera Road. Past Loop 1604, the far West Side begins south of Shaenfield Road and runs out Culebra Road, Potranco Road, SH 211 and US-90, with communities like Alamo Ranch and Kallison Ranch, closer to Lackland.
Which Northwest San Antonio neighborhoods are closest to Camp Bullis?
From The Dominion it's about 3.5 driving miles to the main gate, Crownridge about 4, Leon Springs about 5, Two Creeks about 6.5 and Cross Mountain about 7.5. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
Where can I live close to the South Texas Medical Center?
Oak Hills is about 2 driving miles from University Hospital, Balcones Heights about 3 and Leon Valley about 3.5. Braun Station and Great Northwest are 6.5 to 7, and Helotes is about 9. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
Are there new construction homes in Northwest San Antonio?
Yes, mostly past Loop 1604. Davis Ranch has five builders starting from about $352,000, Sagebrooke and Bricewood are still building, Meritage is selling in Fox Falls from about $515,000, and Toll Brothers starts at about $770,000 in Caliza Reserve. Inside 1604, Century Communities' Senna in Leon Valley starts at about $350,000.
What are property taxes in Northwest San Antonio?
Combined 2026 rates run from about $1.84 per $100 on the Boerne ISD side of Scenic Oaks to about $2.55 in Balcones Heights. Most homes inside San Antonio and Northside ISD pay $2.359964, and the unincorporated communities past Loop 1604 mostly pay about $1.87 to $1.90.
Does it make sense to buy on the Northwest Side if I'll PCS in a few years?
It can, and renting the house out after your next orders is one way to make it work, though every situation and every community is different. Unused VA entitlement can back a VA loan at your next base; the lender there may ask for money down, depending on how much entitlement you still have and that county's loan limit. Sell after two years or so, and the sale likely won't cover what you spent to buy and then sell. And where builders are still selling, as in Davis Ranch and Fox Falls, a quick resale would be priced against the builders' brand-new homes and their incentives. In those communities, plan to keep the house longer or rent it out.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: Bexar Appraisal District · Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA loan limits and entitlement
Picking your corner
of the Northwest Side?
Tell me where you'll be working or reporting and what the house needs. I'll set up the showings, in person or on video, come with you to any model home, and write the offer when you find the one. Not ready yet? Browse Northwest Side homes for sale.
Let's Talk About Your Next MoveMRP · Licensed since 2022 · 35+ closed transactions · $12M+ in sales volume
Tiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP | Real Broker LLC
(919) 800-9870 | tiffany@tiffanyreedtx.com | tiffanyreedtx.com
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